China commissioned its first domestically engineered aircraft carrier, the Fujian, at a ceremony attended by President Xi Jinping on Hainan island, marking a significant advance in Beijing’s ambition to build a “world-class” military capable of challenging US naval dominance by mid-century.
The carrier, China’s third and first domestically built from scratch, represents one of the most visible examples of Xi’s military modernisation campaign targeting a fully modernised force by 2035, state news agency Xinhua reported Friday.
“Carriers are key to the Chinese leadership’s vision of China as a great power with a blue-water navy,” said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to forces capable of projecting power far from coastal waters.
The Pentagon’s latest congressional report identifies China’s “increasingly capable military” and ability to “project power globally” as reasons it remains “the only competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order.”
According to experts, Beijing aims to dominate near waters including the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea around the First Island Chain running south through Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Deeper into the Pacific, China seeks to contest control of the Second Island Chain, where the US maintains military facilities on Guam and elsewhere.
“A carrier doesn’t really help you in the First Island Chain, but it’s key to that contest, if you want one, with the Americans in the wider Indo-Pacific,” Poling said.
How does the Fujian carrier stack up against US and Europe?
The Fujian bypasses steam catapult technology used on most US carriers, employing an electromagnetic launch system found only on the latest US Navy Ford-class carriers. The system causes less aircraft and ship stress, allows more precise speed control and can launch a wider aircraft range than steam systems.
Unlike China’s first two carriers using older ski-jump launch systems, the Fujian can launch heavier aircraft with full fuel loads, including the KJ-600 early warning and control plane successfully tested during sea trials.
The carrier also launched the latest J-35 stealth fighter and J-15T heavy fighter, giving it “full-deck operation capability,” according to the Chinese navy.
The ability to carry reconnaissance aircraft means the Fujian will not operate blind beyond land-based support range, enabling operations of China’s most advanced aircraft far afield including the Second Island Chain.
“The Fujian carrier is a big leapfrog for China in terms of the capabilities of its aircraft carriers compared to the first two,” said Brian Hart, deputy director of CSIS’ China Power Project.
China has only three carriers, compared to the US Navy’s 11, with all Chinese carriers conventionally powered, while American carriers use nuclear power, allowing almost indefinite operations without refuelling.
Europe currently operates four dedicated aircraft carriers: France’s nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle—the only non-US nuclear carrier in service—and the UK’s two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
Italy operates two light carriers, the Cavour and the recently commissioned Trieste, whilst Spain operates the Juan Carlos I amphibious assault ship capable of launching F-35B jets.
France is developing the PA-NG (Porte-Avions de Nouvelle Génération), which at 78,000 tonnes would become Europe’s largest warship when commissioned around 2038, featuring electromagnetic launch systems comparable to the latest US Ford-class carriers.
More carriers to come?
Evidence suggests China is building another carrier, with shipyards capable of simultaneous construction and producing vessels at a pace the US cannot currently match.
“Really across the board, China’s closing the gap,” Hart said. “They’re fielding and building more aircraft carriers, they’re fielding more nuclear-powered subs, they are fielding more, larger destroyers and other vessels that carry a larger number of missiles.”
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, a former defence minister, said the commissioning underscores that China is “extensively and rapidly strengthening its military power without transparency.” Japan would “calmly but decisively respond” if necessary, he told reporters.
One concern in foreign capitals involves a possible Chinese blockade or invasion of democratically self-governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory and which Xi has not ruled out taking by force, although US President Donald Trump said recently said the Chinese leader gave him his assurances this would not happen during his mandate.
“He has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in an interview with CBS last Sunday.
Singapore-based analyst Tang Meng Kit cautioned that sophisticated equipment does not necessarily translate to military readiness, noting China has not fought a war since 1979 and that carefully choreographed parades excel at “amplifying perceptions of strength.”
“It is possible that China’s capabilities are overstated, as real-world operational readiness lags behind its showcased arsenal,” he said.
The September World War II Victory Day parade in Beijing showcased the three aircraft alongside hypersonic glide vehicles, aerial and underwater drones and electronic warfare systems.
The parade signalled “China’s broader strategic intent, which is to deter major powers, pressure regional actors, expand its global influence, and reinforce its domestic legitimacy,” Tang said.
